The lasting toll of violence on NYC’s subway

Plus: Uptown drivers push for parking permits ahead of congestion pricing [On The Way - from WNYC and Gothamist] Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( Blood on the tracks By [Stephen Nessen]( and [Clayton Guse]( More people have been murdered in New York City’s subways since the start of 2020 than in the preceding 15 years — a grim statistic driven by [an alarming start to the year in the mass transit system](. The NYPD has recorded 32 murders in subway trains and stations since the start of 2020, which includes three fatal shootings over the last six weeks. From 2005 to 2019, there were 31 murders recorded in the system, according to NYPD data. On Wednesday, MTA Chair Janno Lieber emphasized crime on the subways is rare. “On average, last year, we had six felony crimes a day in a ridership of 4 million,” Lieber said at an MTA board meeting. “I'm not going to argue about the statistics. I'm just saying that we need to push back on both the reality and the perception of crime.” But gun violence on mass transit exacts a lasting toll that can’t be fully captured in statistics. Just ask Fitim Gjeloshi, who helped save dozens of passengers on a northbound Brooklyn N train on April 12, 2022 when Frank James set off a smoke bomb and fired 32 shots from his Glock 17 during morning rush hour. Ten people were wounded. As terrified riders rushed toward the opposite end of the car. Gjeloshi busted open a locked train car door, allowing commuters to flee into the adjoining car. Miraculously, no one died. Now, Gjeloshi, at 21 years old, is a subway hero who is terrified to ride the trains. In an interview with Gothamist, Gjeloshi recalled James shot at him four times. Three of the bullets missed. One grazed his pants. He said he still suffers from PTSD that has resulted in him rarely leaving the house. “I get scared to ride the train. I never ride the train,” said Gjeloshi. “When you see a person who shot so many people, including yourself, everything changes.” James [was sentenced to life in prison]( last year. The violent start to 2024 comes amid a [surge of NYPD officers]( into the subway system. Last Friday, police said three people got into an argument with William Alvarez, 45, on a D train near 182nd-183rd station in the Bronx — and [then fatally shot him](. Internal MTA records obtained by Gothamist suggest the group attempted to rob the man before his death. Police have charged the three with [murder](. On Feb. 12, [three teens allegedly shot into a crowd]( after an argument with rivals at the Mount Eden station. Obed Beltran-Sanchez, 35, an innocent bystander, was struck in the chest and died. Five other people were injured. And on Jan. 14, a man, who remains at large, shot [Richard Henderson]( on a 3 train in Brooklyn. Police said Henderson, 45, tried to break up a fight between the shooter and another rider. Henderson’s friend Anthony Williams, who was on the train during the shooting, told Gothamist the suspect “just came out of nowhere.” The shooting occurred at the Rockaway Ave. station, according to an internal MTA incident report. The train continued for six stops until it reached the Franklin Ave.-Medgar Evers station, where the mortally wounded Henderson was taken to Kings County Hospital. “This is not a crazy, out of control place,” Lieber said of the subway system. “However, it is a place where people do feel vulnerable. And it’s a public space that needs to feel safe as well as being safe.” Gjeoshi’s father, Hasan, wondered whether his son would ever be able to ride mass transit again. The father recalled riding the subway with his son after the 2022 shooting “to see how he acted.” “His face was coming yellow. He changed the color. He started shaking his hands,” Hasan Gjeoshi said. “When I look at him, I say, ‘This child, my son, is finished with the train.'" What New York is reading this week [cars clogging Manhattan]( Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images [Congestion pricing might drive NYC commuters uptown. Residents want parking permits.]( - Upper Manhattan drivers, fearing an influx of commuters parking in their neighborhood to avoid congestion pricing tolls, are renewing a push for resident parking permits. [Read more](. - The MTA has installed devices for tracking and tolling cars at dozens of locations around Manhattan ahead of the planned launch of congestion pricing. [Read more](. - Police said a subway conductor was slashed in the neck early Thursday morning at a Brooklyn station while looking out the train’s window for a routine safety check. He was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. [Read more](. - A package of bills introduced by City Councilmember Christopher Marte would create more bike parking and storage in local parks and city-owned buildings to protect against theft. [Read more](. - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is pitching a corporate tax surcharge for companies making $10 million or more in annual profits in order to fund NJ Transit as it faces a nearly $1 billion fiscal cliff. [Read more](. - New Yorkers of color are far less likely to live near car-free pedestrian plazas than white residents, according to a report from the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. [Read more](. - The MTA has installed plastic pylons on the platform of the 125th Street 4/5/6 station in Harlem to test if the barriers can effectively reduce attacks on train conductors. [Read more](. - If you can’t resist walking from car to car inside one of the C line’s new open gangway subway trains, you’re a “gangway walker.” Welcome to the club. ([City & State]( Curious commuter “Why are the MTA’s new elevators and escalators constantly out of service? The elevators at the 190th Street station on the A line were installed during the pandemic, yet one of three is constantly out of service.” - Amy in Manhattan What Stephen and Clayton says: According to the MTA, new subway elevators are like baseball gloves — they need to be broken in. Seriously. "The MTA strives to ensure all elevators are working properly and holds its contractors to high standards. This is especially true in cases where newly built elevators are experiencing routine break-in periods as their thousands of components are tested by 24/7 service for the first time," MTA spokesperson Michael Cortez said. Between 2019 and 2021, the MTA closed and upgraded subway elevators at five upper Manhattan subway stations, including the one at our Curious Commuter’s 190th Street station. It’s particularly important for the elevators at that station to function because it’s more than 100 feet beneath the street. If the elevators are down, commuters must climb 10 flights of stairs. It’s not the first time the MTA had issues with new elevators at the station. Back in 1986, Newsday’s Jim Dwyer reported one of the station’s elevators routinely broke down, less than a year after being replaced for $1.1 million. “The work was supposed to be done by February 1984. It wasn’t finished until October 1985,” Dwyer wrote. “In the year between then and the end of October 1986, the brand new elevator has been out of order on 67 occasions, for a total of 538 hours.” Have a question? Follow [@Gothamist on Instagram]( for special opportunities and prompts to submit questions. If you're not on Instagram, email [cguse@wnyc.org](mailto:cguse@wnyc.org ?subject=Curious%20Commuter) or [snessen@wnyc.org](mailto:snessen@wnyc.org?subject=Curious%20Commuter) with the subject line "Curious Commuter question." You must provide your first name + borough (or city if outside of NYC) to have your question considered. Service Tips - Friday night, Mar. 1, through early Monday, Mar. 3: - In Manhattan, 1 trains won’t run between 14 St and South Ferry. - In the Bronx, Pelham Bay Park-bound 6 trains will skip Castle Hill Av, Zerega Av, Westchester Sq-E Tremont Av, Middletown Rd and Buhre Av. In Manhattan, downtown 6 trains will skip 116 St, 110 St, 103 St, 96 St, 77 St, 68 St-Hunter College and 51 St. - In Queens, Manhattan-bound 7 trains will skip 111 St, 103 St-Corona Plaza, 90 St-Elmhurst Av and 82 St-Jackson Hts. - In Manhattan, L trains won’t run between 14 St-Union Sq and 8 Av. - In Brooklyn, Q trains won’t run between Atlantic Av and Prospect Park. - Through the first quarter of 2024 the M train will not travel above 57th street, and the F train will run on the E line between Rockefeller Center and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. These changes to the F line means there's no subway service at Roosevelt Island, but the MTA is providing shuttle buses instead. More details [here](. - Every borough currently has one free bus route. [Find yours](. This week in NYC transit history [Dr. William J. Ronan, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, on board a LIRR train to Belmont Park] Jim Cavanagh/Newsday RM via Getty Images Happy Birthday, MTA The MTA was officially born on March 1, 1968 — a leap year with many parallels to 2024. The new agency planned to use tolls from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority — which had been controlled by Robert Moses for decades — to keep the city’s subways running. Today, the MTA plans to launch a new set of tolls – congestion pricing – to subsidize subway and commuter railroad construction projects. On February 29, 1968, William Ronan, the first MTA chair, said the new agency would transform New York. He promised to build a new double decker East River tunnel, with subway tracks on top and LIRR tracks below. That project was finally completed last year, with the opening of [Grand Central Madison](. Ronan also promised numerous projects that were never delivered, like a new subway express track in Queens and new train lines beneath Utica Ave. and Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn. Ronan even promised moving walkways beneath several Manhattan crosstown streets that would carry pedestrians across the island. Today, we ride buses down Utica and Nostrand Ave — and it’s often faster to walk across the busiest parts of Manhattan. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [YouTube]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.